Where is my white Christmas?

 I'm originally a Wisconsin girl. I'm used to harsh winters with grey skies and snow that falls and piles up so that the ground is white from roughly November until April. After my Bachelor's degree I moved to Colorado to pursue a Graduate degree. Now Colorado is synonymous with mountains and skiing and I never thought that the weather would be better than Wisconsin. To my delight, the average temperature in Boulder, Colorado was 45F and had 300 days of sunshine.
These pictures are a few years old now, but they were taken on a hike that I went on in January 2006. Yep, this is Boulder in January.









About 2 years ago a friend called me on Christmas from Boulder to tell me that it was 70F and they were grilling out for Christmas dinner. Boulder did get snow and when it snowed, it tended to be epic snow. It would snow like crazy for a couple days and be cold, then later in the week it would be sunny and everything would melt. It was a fun place to leave for a few years.

In 2008, I moved to Basel, Switzerland. I have to admit I had gotten soft after living in Boulder for 3 years and was terrified to move to Switzerland with cold, Wisconsin-like winters again. Well, after 4 years I am happy to report that Wisconsin still reigns as the worst winter place I have ever lived. Basel is in this little, wonderful pocket where it is relatively sunny, warm and milder than the rest of Switzerland. It was over 60F (17C) on Christmas Eve and sunny. Christmas day was similarly mild, but with a bit of rain.

My view from Simon's parent's house in Luzern (central Switzerland) on Christmas day. The only snow present was on the mountains

I have to admit that there is a little part of me that misses a white Christmas, but at the same time the mild weather suits me well. I've become soft after being out of Wisconsin for almost 8 years. We may still get snow this year, but for now, I'm enjoying running the dogs, shopping, and enjoying the rest of my winter holiday.